Monday, July 19, 2010

OUR PRECIOUS TIME WITH JEN & JERRY AND FAMILY THE BREWER FAMILY Just moved into a new home.Jerry - Dermatologist at Mayo Clinic. Gospel Doctrine teacher in new ward--Rochester 5th Ward.Jen - Wife, busy mother of 5; loves new calling as leader for Activity Days in primary; teaches nutrition and aerobic classes for the YMCA. Seth and Sarah just turned 8 in June and were baptised at our Walt & Eileen Family Reunion in Wyoming.Benjamin is 5 and will go to kindergarten soon. Joshua will be 3 on July 31 and is all boy! Baby Elizabeth is 8 months old. We call her "Bizzy Lizzy" because she crawls all over and is about to walk! We've loved being able to be here with them.

HAVING A GREAT TIME WITH THE BREWERS IN ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA. THE 8 DAYS HAVE ZOOMED BY WAY TOO FAST. WE HAVE TO LEAVE TOMORROW--JULY 20.We arrived at midnight in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 13 (plane delayed 4 hours in Boise, so we missed our first connection in SLC). Jen was there with her baby to drive us the 85 miles to Rochester.

Early the next morning we drove 5 1/2 hours to Nauvoo and went to the visitors' center, the family center where Elder Neal Anderson from Burley was teaching families how to make rope and then at the log Calvin Pendleton home and school where Sister Donna Anderson--also from Burley--taught us about the Pendleton family and showed us how the kids in Nauvoo wrote on their individual slates at school. We also went to the bakery, print shop, blacksmith shop, John Taylor home, then over to Carthage Jail (30-min drive) for the sobering tour and narration about the Prophet Joseph's and his brother Hyrum's last 2 days living on earth before they were martyred on June 27, 1844.

That evening we went to the spectacular Nauvoo Pageant with cast of 170...only 20 of whom were professionals.

Thursday we went on a carriage ride pulled by two handsome matched work horses. The hour ride for the carriage full of 25 tourists was interestingly narrated by President Jack Hill, a senior missionary from Burley, Idaho, who has been called as a counselor in the Nauvoo Mission Presidency. He has recruited about 10 couples from Mini-Cassia to be teamsters, etc. at Nauvoo.

Then Grampa and I did a session in the beautiful, beautiful Nauvoo Temple while Jen & Jerry and kids went to Joseph Smith's Mansion Home, saw their graves, went to the Red Brick store, and then to the home of Wilford Woodruff who is Jerry's 4th-great grandfather. (Grampa and I had seen these sites in June 2001 on a family trip to Nauvoo for our 40th wedding anniversary. Jen & Jerry had not been able to go.)

Then we kept the kids so Jen & Jerry could do a temple session. Every temple has a beauty of its own, and this temple has been made of the finest materials available also.

When we reunited, we drove where statues of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young have the inscription "Eyes Westward" where Parley Street or "Trail of Hope" ends at the river. This is where most of the 12,000 residents crossed the Mississippi River to escape the persecution of the Mormons in 1846. Most of them made the thousand mile plus trek to the barren valley of the Salt Lake which they soon had blossoming as a rose.

Friday Grampa built steps for the trampoline. Jerry was at the Clinic for his research day. Jerry mowed their big lawn in the muggy heat when he got home from work.Saturday Jerry and Grampa built a ski rack for the garage. The adults had a gourmet dinner at Pescara's.Sabbath morning was relaxed, then church 1-4pm, followed by a yummy Mormon Sunday roast beef dinner, complete with hot, homemade rolls. Monday--today, July 19, Jen and Grampa are building shelves for one of the finished basement's storage rooms. Seth is assigned to teach about baptism, and Sarah about the Holy Ghost for family home evening tonight.

We'll share photos when we get back home and I download them into my laptop. And put new songs on since Jen has taught me how to use iTunes. YaHoo!!

Hope everyone is having a patriotic July...God Bless the USA!

Sorry I've been negligent in keeping up my blog since we came home in March from our mission. We've been hither and yon so much that we feel like yoyos. But we've loved visiting our kids and grandkids in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and now with Jen & Jerry and kids in Minnesota. We've also enjoyed having some time with Grama A and Jen in Salt Lake City; Dale & Connie in Twin; and Phyllis & Dale in Wendell.

We're looking forward to the Jane & Ray Petersen Family Reunion this Saturday, July 24th. We haven't had one since 1988, which was our 8th one after these began in 1974. Dale got the ball rolling for this one which is at Riverfront Park in Burley.

About Us

Walt was born in Wendell, Idaho,and has lived in Idaho 64 of his 83 years. Eileen was born in the Twin Falls Idaho Hospital going home to Wendell from there, and have lived in Idaho for 56 of my 78 years. Married June 14, 1961 in Salt Lake Temple. We thank our children and grandchildren for the wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration they hosted for us in June 2011. We went on a Mediterranean cruise (thanks again to our children) to celebrate our 50th--a year early to be with D. Kelly Ogden as he lectured "In the Footsteps of Paul the Apostle." We have lived in St. Louis,MO, Minneapolis,MN; Talihina,OK; Burley,IDAHO 42 years, 3 years in Merida, Mexico;2 years in Guatemala City, Guatemala; 18 mos in Argentina,Oct 2008 to Mar 2010; and 3 years as temple president and matron of the new (dedicated Aug 21, 2011) San Salvador El Salvador Temple for--July 2011 to Nov 1, 2014. We love and adore each other, our 7 children, their spouses, and our 35 grandchildren.
Walt is a physician, I was a medical secretary for PHT, then homemaker and mother.
We are staunch Republicans.